Deceitful Moon (12 page)

“I wouldn’t miss it, but I doubt he’ll say much. He’ll talk when he chooses to. It’s part of the whole control thing.”

“I know, but it’ll
be
fun to watch the son of a bitch squirm. Maybe we can even piss him off.”

Manny grinned. “That would be worth the effort.”

Chloe left the others and stepped close to Manny, maybe too close. “That was some of the best profile work I’ve ever seen. How did you know?”

“Don’t encourage him
;
it’ll go to his head,” said Josh.

“Let me guess
;
it was a
‘
feeling
?
’
”
grinned Chloe.

“Something like that. You know how this stuff goes; you just try to put yoursel
f
in the guy’s head, that’s all. He did what I might have done,
or
at least one of
the
things I would have done.
Alex and Max believe it’s a subconscious gathering of facts
. . .
but they’re science geeks. They don’t believe in the Way.”

“Well, I have to admit, I’m more of a believer than before.
Okay. What was the other thing?”
asked Chloe.

“Run like hell.”

“What?
”

Manny win
ked. “It’s just me, but I would’
ve run like hell.”

Chloe gave him the
best
smile he’d seen from her
,
and it was
dazzling
. When she relaxed like that, laughed,
she
was more than beautiful, and he wasn’t sure she realized it. But
that
something
remained
underneath it all,
that
reason for guarding herself. On the outside, she appeared to be a hard
-
charging professional ready to climb the ladder at the Bureau. Except she was driven by a need
, p
erhaps a pain, a hurt hidden deeper than any psychological exam the Feds
had
administered. He was sure about that. But she was handling it by burying herself in her work. He knew that one. Not always healthy, but a defense mechanism that would keep her out of the nuthouse.
He knew that
one too
.

Manny found himself fantasizing about finding out what that pain was and helping, even getting to know her better. He shook it aside. This feeling would pass. He’d experienced infatuations before. That’s all this was. Right?

“That would have been my choice, for sure,” said Josh
, g
iving Manny a curious look.

Just then, Sophie left the two CSIs, shaking her head. “Those guys need to get a room.”

“Why?” questioned Manny.

“All that science talk. Damn. I think they’re getting horny talking about particulates,
DNA, bodily fluids,
poly-something evidence bags, and new kinds of latex gloves.”

“Yeah, well it’s not like Alex has a lot of people like Agent Tucker to talk with,” said Manny
, h
appy that Sophie had interrupted Josh’s attention.
Manny had
stared
at Chloe a little too long
.

“Whatever. They seem entirely too excited about that stuff
,
”
Sophie moved a little closer to Josh. “What do you think about latex?”

Josh frowned. “Gloves?”

“Gloves could be part of it,
boots for sure,
but I mean in general. You know. Like black or red
. . .
camisoles
. . .
”

“Sophie!”
warned
Manny.

“What? I only wanted to know what he thought.” She blinked at Josh. “Still do.”

Josh
stepped
closer to Manny
, away from Sophie
. “
Ah. I think it’s time to go
.
Let’s get down to the station, talk with our special guest
,
and
then
see about getting some rest.”

Manny watched relief
landscape
Josh’s
face as
he
changed the subject
.
But there was little doubt Sophie would pick up the
matter
again at the first opportunity.

That’s twice she had flustered
Josh
, and she seemed to be enjoying the hell out of it. Still, they would have to talk about professional conduct. But not today. For the moment, life was too good to go the downer route.

Just then, Sophie’s cell
began playing a tune from
Phantom
. She scowled, looked at the number, then up to Manny.

Thinking
back, he had no inkling how quickly
the good mood
would change.
How one call could disrupt not only the moment, but turn
part of his
world upside down
.

“It’s the office. Hello
—
whoa. Wait. Slow down,
Buzzy
.”

Manny watched the color drain from
Sophie’s
face as she handed the phone to him, tears already glistening
in
her big
,
brown eyes.

“
Buzzy
. What happened?”

He heard her sob and then make a heroic effort to get control of the hitch blocking her throat. “I tried your cell a hundred times
. . .
so much blood
. . .
”

Panic
punched
Manny’s
ches
t.
“Who
se
blood? Tell me what’s going on,
Buzzy
.
”

There was a brief silence as Buzzy caught some air.
“
J
ust get back here. Gavin’s been shot.”

Chapter
-21

The FBI’s jet lifted from the runway, banking gracefully over the thick, shadowy green of St. Thomas and straightening over the glassy ocean just as the sun began to
climb
over the eastern
h
orizon. Manny looked away from the window and down to his watch. They had lifted off before the pilots had gotten their FAA
-
required eight
hours of continuous rest. But with the FBI, everyone did what they were told. This time, he was ok
ay
with it. Getting back to Lansing was the only thing on his mind
.

“Just get back here
.
Gavin’s been shot.”

Putting the cuffs on Argyle had been special
,
and
there was
no telling how many lives would be
saved
because of it. If the profilers could get him to eventually talk to them,
which was something
Argyle
was helpless to resist,
he might reveal an insight or two into how these
psychopaths
thought, how they worked. Even if Argyle talked just to hear himself speak, they would learn something. Manny wouldn’t be there for the first run. Josh, Max, and Chloe stayed behind to brief a crack team of the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Unit, which could lead to an opportunity to
learn more about Argyle
.
Josh wanted Manny to leave
the
Lansing
PD to work
for that unit
. He ran his hand through his hair. Changing jobs, even for one with the BAU, was the last thing on his mind. He had to get home. Nothing was more important
.

Buzzy
had been near hysteria. He had finally talked her into handing the phone to one of the EMTs.

Gavin had been found in his office with one shot to the chest. He was hanging in there, but barely. “He’s lost more blood than anyone still breathing has a right to lose,” said the tech. “Just keep praying we weren’t too late.”

Praying was something he could do, and did. He believed
that
God listened
and
even intervened from
time-to-time
to show the world He was God and the rest of mankind wasn’t. This was one of those times, he hoped, that God would listen.

And what of Stella and Mike? How much more could they take? What Argyle had done to Lexy was hard to
digest
, maybe even impossible to reconcile fully. A quick vision of how she had looked when she’d been found in her stateroom gouged his thoughts. He flinched. Only animals did that to people, especially
to some
one as beautiful, inside and out, as
Lexy
.

Now Gavin. If he died, and it was past touch
-
and
-
go for him, Mike and Stella
would lose
two of the most important people in their lives just months apart. Talk about a recipe
for
the
loony bin
.

And why did this happen? Who had the balls to do it? A cop makes enemies over the years
(
he had a few of his own
)
,
but shooting the
p
olice
c
hief
in his office? It was spit
t
ing in the face of all law enforcement. Maybe that was the idea.

He glanced around the cabin. Alex was dead asleep on the sofa.
Not a bad idea.
They had all been up for over twenty-two hours
,
and Manny would have to follow suit soon. Sophie caught his eyes, left her seat
,
and plopped down next
to
him, looping her arm through his.

Sometimes, in spite of the smart-ass remarks and the almost fearless bravado that was genuinely her,
his partner
seemed like a lost little girl looking for a place to hide
, a
safe haven. But hey,
didn’t everyone
feel like that,
at least
once in a
while?
Maybe
more than once in a
while.

“What is rattling around in that slick brain of yours?” she asked.

“How tired I am
. . .
and visions of Josh Corner in a red latex tutu.”

She snorted. “You ain’t the only one.” She squeezed tighter. “What’s
really
going on in there?”

“Besides what would happen with Stella and Mike
—
and the rest of us
—
if Gavin doesn’t make it?”

“Yeah, besides that.” She hesitated, swallowing hard. “We had our moments, the Chief and
I
, but I love the guy like a father. This doesn’t happen to your dad, you know?”

“I do know.” He patted her arm. “As for your question
: W
ho
? Why? How did they get in? The usual.”

“Me too. What about the unusual
?
T
hat’s
your
thing
.
”

“I don’t know
,
girl
.
I’m tired and not exactly concentrating. You first.”

“Oooo. Al
l
right. Me first. Why only one shot? And how did someone get close enough to him for that?”

“So you think he may have known the shooter?”

She nodded. “Also, don’t most shooters click off more than one round, just to make sure?”

“True
. T
hey do.”

“So maybe this is someone who has never done this before and didn’t know any better. Or maybe doesn’t quite have the stomach for blowing someone away.”

“You may be on to something. If that’s true, then it makes it tougher for us. If the shooter left any trace DNA or fingerprints, they won’t be in any
database
, and ballistics won’t get a match.” Man
n
y frowned.

“I felt that. What are you frowning about?”

“We need to see more evidence, but this almost feels like
—
”

“Like what?”

“Maybe a woman perp. There doesn’t seem to be any
rage
, no overkill, and he was shot in the chest, not the head. More than half of male shooters go for the face or head. It could be a woman.”